An 'off' setting isn't the answer, just like downgrading isn't the answer for people who dislike iOS7. That's just not how Apple does things.
If Apple makes a bad product, they don't fill it with toggles so you can switch off all the crap. They go back, and they fix what people don't like. Product creation is an iterative process; you never get it 100% perfect in version 1.
In this case, the animations are just a little too flamboyant, and get in the way of using the device. Apple isn't going to offer switches for every animation you don't like; they're going to think about the animation again, and see how they can tone it down and speed it up.
This is why we pay Apple all that money - to think of solutions to these problems rather than just slapping switches everywhere there's anything somebody doesn't like.
Your implication is that Apple should fix it in a way that suits hundreds of millions of people around the world. That's delusional, there's no one-size-fits-all for everything... You'll find many various toggles and options in iOS as a result. It's just one more.
To those who don't understand the issue with the delay, it isn't so much about the quantity of time lost from our natural lives... It's that it ruins the muscle memory flow we've learned over the last few years.
Wouldn't this go against Apple's fundamental principle of having devices just work, without getting in the way? Having to repeat gestures because it doesn't capture the first one isn't natural or fluid. It's also strange because we're so used to it responding to our first touch. Some people are very quick at their devices, and now it's restricted to a certain speed.
Also, consider that there are threads about how Apple's multitouch screens are tens of milliseconds faster than Androids and other devices, and everyone goes on about how that's always been what makes Apple product feel so good to use. Wouldn't all those people dislike having delays and gaps where the screen doesn't respond?
Seems more unlike Apple than one more simple toggle, or making the input still active while the animations are going.